'Whoever is in charge gets the blame': GOP strategist names Trump's biggest weakness

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts as he welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (not pictured) at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 29, 2025. REUTERS Kevin Lamarque

Republicans in Congress are quietly admitting that soon-to-be-expiring Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits could turn their voters against them in next year's midterm elections.

That's according to a Tuesday article in Politico, which reported that GOP lawmakers are hoping President Donald Trump will take on a more vocal role in healthcare negotiations than he did during the ongoing government shutdown (which is the longest in U.S. history). One unnamed White House source told Politico that Trump is in favor of the GOP-controlled House and Senate having a vote on extending the ACA tax credits, though they refrained from saying what Trump's specific position is on the policy other than that he has "talked about healthcare quite a lot."

"And recently, he has broadly said, you know, we got to cut health care costs down in any way we can. We got to look at different ways in order to do that," the source said. "And so the healthcare cost is definitely on his mind."

If the ACA tax credits run out at the end of 2025 with no extension, monthly premiums could double in certain health insurance marketplaces like California. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) previously said her adult children are on the precipice of seeing their own premiums double in cost. Premiums in deep-red states like Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming are set to rise by anywhere from 150 percent to 387 percent, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. And the recent elections in Georgia, New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere were largely defined by voter anger with the high cost of living.

"Once we get past [the shutdown], then things can become a little trickier for the administration and it goes to that issue of cost," Republican strategist Doug Heye said. "We’ve seen it a million times — as recently as the last administration — whoever is in charge gets the blame for rising prices. [If] that happens on your watch, even though it’s a program that was cleared by Democrats… you’re still where the buck should stop and voters want to see and hear that you’re engaged."

Politico's source told the outlet that many Republican elected officials have confided that they hope Trump will take swift action to prevent health insurance costs from spiking — particularly as they fight to stay in power next November.

"There’s a lot of [Republicans] who think, I don’t want to go into the beginning of a new year, which is an election year, with premiums going up 25, 30 percent," the source said. “I’m assuming they want [Trump involved]. The question is, will they get it?”

Click here to read Politico's report in its entirety.

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